Polysaccharides are ubiquitous, stable structural components found in nature. Many organisms use polysaccharides as structural material inside and outside of their cells to provide 3-dimensional shape and surface structure. The structural integrity of polysaccharides from natural sources is often retained after the isolation of the polysaccharide, allowing it to be used for a variety of commercial purposes. Owing to their desirable physical characteristics polysaccharides have also been produced by synthetic methods for commercial purposes. In either case, polysaccharides from either synthetic or non-synthetic sources comprise the raw material for a variety of commercially important products such as paper pulp, agricultural produce and fibers.
Polysaccharide structures generally are stable and relatively inert to a variety of chemical conditions. This gives both non-synthetic and synthetic products prepared from polysaccharide structures the desirable characteristics of durability, strength and resistance to aging. However, raw or unprocessed polysaccharidic structures often have undesirable characteristics due to precisely the same physical properties that give them their desirable characteristics. The undesirable characteristics generally include coarse texture, inflexibility, hardness, and abrasiveness, although for some applications some of these characteristics may be preferred. Such traits are particularly common for raw, natural fibers that have not been processed.
Methods do exist to refine and alter the structure of polysaccharides used for commercial products which include mechanical disruption, polishing, washing and spinning of fibers into finer threads and materials. However, it would be of interest to develop an alternative approach to mechanically polishing natural and synthetic polysaccharide structures to facilitate refining of polysaccharide structures, particularly in a predictable, specific fashion. Such refinements could include changing the texture, appearance, touch and feel of the polysaccharide structure.